Going green is easier when you have extra green. Earlier today, Town Administrator Mel Kleckner received the green communities grant of $215,000 from the Department of Energy Resources (DOER).
Brookline was named a Green Community by the Governor in July, following an application process that ended in April. Brookline and 21 others were named this year, for a total of 74 others in Massachusetts.
This designation entitled the town to apply for grant funding from the DOER for projects such as LED street lights, a solar array assessment, and a manager and employee energy efficiency awareness program.
"In my conversations with Brookline residents, I have been impressed by their interest in and dedication to environmental issues," said Rep. Ed Coppinger in a press release. "I want to congratulate the Town of Brookline for being designated a Green Community. This impressive achievement reflects Brookline's attempts to make the town more environmentally friendly and will help spur awareness of the important environmental issues facing us today."
Department of Energy Resources (DOER) Commissioner Mark Sylvia today presented six of the state's newest Green Communities - Ayer, Bedford, Brookline, Carlisle, Tewksbury and Woburn - with over $1 million in awards to finance high-efficiency lighting, energy management systems and other clean energy projects.
"Across the Commonwealth, communities are demonstrating that clean energy investments make sense because they cut long-term energy costs, protect the environment and boost our local clean energy economy. We're proud to help them take these efforts to the next level," said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr., whose office includes DOER.
The Green Communities Act, which created DOER's Green Communities program, was cited by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) as a primary reason for ACEEE's recent ranking of Massachusetts as first in the nation its energy efficiency policies and programs, moving California out of the top spot for the first time since the ranking was first published four years ago.
ACEEE's October report pointed to the effectiveness of the Patrick-Murray Administration's integrated approach to creating jobs, helping clean energy businesses thrive, improving energy security and lowering energy costs, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"This energy conservation grant will help the Town of Ayer save money on energy costs while reducing carbon emissions and protecting our environment. I'm proud to have been a supporter of the Green Communities Act, which has led to smart clean energy investment programs like this one, and am pleased to see Ayer get this funding," said Sen. Jamie Eldridge.
"I am delighted that the Patrick administration has provided communities across the Commonwealth with the opportunity to lower energy costs and consumption," said Sen. Susan Fargo.
"This Green Communities grant, which will allow the city to install energy efficient streetlights and lighting systems in public building, is great for Woburn," said Sen. Patricia Jehlen. "These essential projects, and others like them around the Commonwealth, increasing energy efficiency while saving our municipalities money."
Showing posts with label respectively. Show all posts
Showing posts with label respectively. Show all posts
Monday, 19 December 2011
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Is CFL a threat or a boon to the environment?
After reeling under acute power shortage, the State Government is actively looking at making usage of Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) bulbs mandatory across all households in Karnataka,as a measure to reduce power consumption.
Unfortunately, lack of proper CFL disposal measures make CFL a potential health hazard. “Bangalore City alone generates about 1,000 tons of E-waste every month, of which about five per cent comprise CFL bulbs and tubelights,” says a senior environmental officer from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). All CFLs contain mercury, which is a highly toxic metal that can cause kidney and brain damage. Elaborating the adverse effects of Mercury noted environmentalist Yellapa Reddy says, “In case a bulb breaks, then even a small leak of Mercury is enough to damage the brain of a person. It can also penetrate the womb of a pregnant woman
affecting the foetus.” He adds,“While the CFL bulbs are extremely energy-efficient and consume 80 per cent power less than incandescent bulbs, they are a potential threat to nature when they are disposed and tossed in the trash. Most likely, they will find their way to a land-fill, and over a period of time, contaminate ground water supply. The lamps could also be incinerated, which would lead to mercury rain.
The rain water will eventually accumulate in lakes and rivers, ultimately contaminating the aquatic ecosystems and by chain reaction, the food we consume.” “Instances of mercury poisoning discharges in water bodies in Japan and in Kodaikanal (by a mercury-based thermometer company) are well known to everyone. In this case, CFL bulbs are no less a contaminant” says Dr Thuppil Venkatesh, Principal Investigator, National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning in India.
Shockingly, neither the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) nor the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) have issued any specific guidelines to collect and dispose CFL bulbs.
Confirming this, managing director of E-Parisaraa, the Electronic Waste Recycling Company approved by both CPCB and KSPCB, P Parthasarathy says, “There is no recycling unit for CFL bulbs in the state. In 2008, the CPCB framed the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2008, and it included guidelines for mercury management in the CFL sector as well. But the portion was apparently waived off in 2009. Even in the new proposed E-waste (Management and Handling), Rules 2011, which has already been notified and is likely to be implemented in May 2012, there is no mention of the CFL bulbs and tube lights.
Speaking to City Express, a senior environment officer, KSPCB said, “The CPCB is now seriously re-thinking this issue. In Karnataka, we have already alerted the E-waste recycle collectors to separate CFL bulbs.”
However, the cost of constructing a scientific disposal unit is about Rs 2 crore. Also, a lot of CFL bulbs are disposed by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike as they are used in street lamps. So, it is BBMP’s responsibility to plan it disposal, say KSPCB officials.
Unfortunately, lack of proper CFL disposal measures make CFL a potential health hazard. “Bangalore City alone generates about 1,000 tons of E-waste every month, of which about five per cent comprise CFL bulbs and tubelights,” says a senior environmental officer from Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). All CFLs contain mercury, which is a highly toxic metal that can cause kidney and brain damage. Elaborating the adverse effects of Mercury noted environmentalist Yellapa Reddy says, “In case a bulb breaks, then even a small leak of Mercury is enough to damage the brain of a person. It can also penetrate the womb of a pregnant woman
affecting the foetus.” He adds,“While the CFL bulbs are extremely energy-efficient and consume 80 per cent power less than incandescent bulbs, they are a potential threat to nature when they are disposed and tossed in the trash. Most likely, they will find their way to a land-fill, and over a period of time, contaminate ground water supply. The lamps could also be incinerated, which would lead to mercury rain.
The rain water will eventually accumulate in lakes and rivers, ultimately contaminating the aquatic ecosystems and by chain reaction, the food we consume.” “Instances of mercury poisoning discharges in water bodies in Japan and in Kodaikanal (by a mercury-based thermometer company) are well known to everyone. In this case, CFL bulbs are no less a contaminant” says Dr Thuppil Venkatesh, Principal Investigator, National Referral Centre for Lead Poisoning in India.
Shockingly, neither the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) nor the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) have issued any specific guidelines to collect and dispose CFL bulbs.
Confirming this, managing director of E-Parisaraa, the Electronic Waste Recycling Company approved by both CPCB and KSPCB, P Parthasarathy says, “There is no recycling unit for CFL bulbs in the state. In 2008, the CPCB framed the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2008, and it included guidelines for mercury management in the CFL sector as well. But the portion was apparently waived off in 2009. Even in the new proposed E-waste (Management and Handling), Rules 2011, which has already been notified and is likely to be implemented in May 2012, there is no mention of the CFL bulbs and tube lights.
Speaking to City Express, a senior environment officer, KSPCB said, “The CPCB is now seriously re-thinking this issue. In Karnataka, we have already alerted the E-waste recycle collectors to separate CFL bulbs.”
However, the cost of constructing a scientific disposal unit is about Rs 2 crore. Also, a lot of CFL bulbs are disposed by Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike as they are used in street lamps. So, it is BBMP’s responsibility to plan it disposal, say KSPCB officials.
Monday, 24 October 2011
Seton Hall Dismantles Livingston 34-6, Handing the Lancers Their First Loss of the Season
Livingston head coach Barry Kostibos and his staff knew that this week’s contest against Seton Hall Prep would show where his 6-0 Lancers stood in Essex County. However, no one in Livingston thought the Pirates would slam Livingston 34-6 in West Orange on Saturday.
Led by senior and Florida State-bound quarterback Sean Maguire and senior running back Rory Merklinger, the Pirates sliced through the Lancer defense.
Seton Hall scored a minute into the contest and had a 7-0 lead. Livingston quarterback Andrew Egner was picked off by Colin Nordstrom and Nordstrom returned it for a touchdown on the Lancer’s first drive.
“It happens,” Livingston running back Zach Wolkstein said. “We figured we would come right back like we have all season.”
Unfortunately, that was not the case for Livingston. The Lancers went three and out on their first drive and punted the ball back to the Pirates.
Maguire and Merklinger led a methodical and balanced first drive for the Pirates. In Livingston’s red zone, Frank Maldonado ran a 15-yard sweep in for the first offensive score of the day for Seton Hall.
Throughout the first half, Livingston’s offense remained stagnant and could not generate either the passing or the running game.
“We came out flat,” Livingston receiver Cooper Weisman said. “We had a great game plan, but didn’t execute.”
Seton Hall increased their lead to 21-0 right before the half as Maguire threw a 22-yard pass to Devlin Formey.
In the second half, the Pirates showed no signs of slowing down. On the first drive of the half, Seton Hall drove 73 yards and Merklinger punched it in from two-yards out increasing Seton Hall’s lead to 28-0.
“Our tackling was not too good today,” Wolkstein continued. “When you don’t tackle, you don’t win.”
The Pirates added one more score as Tom Lynch had a one-yard touchdown run.
Livingston did add a late touchdown as Egner found Wolkstein, but it was too little too late for Livingston.
“All there is to do now is get ready for the biggest game of the season against West Essex,” Wolkstein concluded.
Next Friday, October 28, the Lancers take on the Knights of West Essex at 7:00 in Livingston for the conference championship.
Led by senior and Florida State-bound quarterback Sean Maguire and senior running back Rory Merklinger, the Pirates sliced through the Lancer defense.
Seton Hall scored a minute into the contest and had a 7-0 lead. Livingston quarterback Andrew Egner was picked off by Colin Nordstrom and Nordstrom returned it for a touchdown on the Lancer’s first drive.
“It happens,” Livingston running back Zach Wolkstein said. “We figured we would come right back like we have all season.”
Unfortunately, that was not the case for Livingston. The Lancers went three and out on their first drive and punted the ball back to the Pirates.
Maguire and Merklinger led a methodical and balanced first drive for the Pirates. In Livingston’s red zone, Frank Maldonado ran a 15-yard sweep in for the first offensive score of the day for Seton Hall.
Throughout the first half, Livingston’s offense remained stagnant and could not generate either the passing or the running game.
“We came out flat,” Livingston receiver Cooper Weisman said. “We had a great game plan, but didn’t execute.”
Seton Hall increased their lead to 21-0 right before the half as Maguire threw a 22-yard pass to Devlin Formey.
In the second half, the Pirates showed no signs of slowing down. On the first drive of the half, Seton Hall drove 73 yards and Merklinger punched it in from two-yards out increasing Seton Hall’s lead to 28-0.
“Our tackling was not too good today,” Wolkstein continued. “When you don’t tackle, you don’t win.”
The Pirates added one more score as Tom Lynch had a one-yard touchdown run.
Livingston did add a late touchdown as Egner found Wolkstein, but it was too little too late for Livingston.
“All there is to do now is get ready for the biggest game of the season against West Essex,” Wolkstein concluded.
Next Friday, October 28, the Lancers take on the Knights of West Essex at 7:00 in Livingston for the conference championship.
Monday, 5 September 2011
As Sports Medicine Surges, Hope and Hype Outpace Proven Treatments
It took her from doctor to doctor, cost her thousands of dollars and led her to try nearly everything sports medicine has to offer — an M.R.I. to show the extent of the injury, physical therapy that included ultrasound and laser therapy, strength training, an injection of platelet-rich plasma, a cortisone shot, another cortisone shot.
Finally, in February, she gave up.
“I decided this is never going to heal, so let’s get on with it,” she said.
And so Ms. Basle, a 44-year-old digital media consultant who lives in Manhattan, started running anyway. She has lost a lot of speed and endurance. And, she added, “the stupid hamstring is really no better.”
Medical experts say her tale of multiple futile treatments is all too familiar and points to growing problems in sports medicine, a medical subspecialty that has been experiencing explosive growth. Part of the field’s popularity, among patients and doctors alike, stems from the fact that celebrity athletes, desperate to get back to playing after an injury, have been trying unproven treatments, giving the procedures a sort of star appeal.
But now researchers are questioning many of the procedures, including new ones that often have no rigorous studies to back them up. “Everyone wants to get into sports medicine,” said Dr. James Andrews, a sports medicine orthopedist in Gulf Breeze, Fla., and president-elect of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.
Doctors love the specialty and can join it with as little as a year of training after their residency, as compared with the more typical two to four years for other specialty training. They see a large group of patients eager for treatment, ranging from competitive athletes to casual exercisers to retirees spending their time on the golf course or tennis court.
The problem is that most sports injuries, including tears of the hamstring ligament like Ms. Basle’s, have no established treatments.
Finally, in February, she gave up.
“I decided this is never going to heal, so let’s get on with it,” she said.
And so Ms. Basle, a 44-year-old digital media consultant who lives in Manhattan, started running anyway. She has lost a lot of speed and endurance. And, she added, “the stupid hamstring is really no better.”
Medical experts say her tale of multiple futile treatments is all too familiar and points to growing problems in sports medicine, a medical subspecialty that has been experiencing explosive growth. Part of the field’s popularity, among patients and doctors alike, stems from the fact that celebrity athletes, desperate to get back to playing after an injury, have been trying unproven treatments, giving the procedures a sort of star appeal.
But now researchers are questioning many of the procedures, including new ones that often have no rigorous studies to back them up. “Everyone wants to get into sports medicine,” said Dr. James Andrews, a sports medicine orthopedist in Gulf Breeze, Fla., and president-elect of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.
Doctors love the specialty and can join it with as little as a year of training after their residency, as compared with the more typical two to four years for other specialty training. They see a large group of patients eager for treatment, ranging from competitive athletes to casual exercisers to retirees spending their time on the golf course or tennis court.
The problem is that most sports injuries, including tears of the hamstring ligament like Ms. Basle’s, have no established treatments.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
A Monstrous Gaming Powerhouse
The Asus G74SX is designed for gamers. Though its simple appearance might not tip you off, its size certainly will. In spite of a few flaws--such as a noisy keyboard and not-noisy-enough speakers--the Asus G74SX packs excellent performance into an attractive chassis. It's worth checking out if you're looking for a "mobile" gaming powerhouse.
Our review model, priced at $1979 (as of August 17 2011), sports a second-generation Intel Core i7 processor (the i7-2630QM) and offers 16GB of RAM plus 910GB of storage space spread over a 750GB hard drive and a 160GB solid-state drive. The G74SX is also one of the first laptops to come preloaded with Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 560M graphics card. Additional features include built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth connectivity, and a Blu-ray Disc player. The G74SX runs the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.
In PCWorld's WorldBench 6 benchmark tests, the Asus G74SX earned an impressive score of 150, which is quite good even for the desktop replacement laptops category. That result is just one point behind the mark of the Dell XPS 17 3D. The G74SX also did well in our graphics tests, with frame rates of 48.8 frames per second and 46.3 fps on our Dirt 2 and Far Cry 2 tests, respectively (both at high quality settings and 1920 by 1080 resolution). Those numbers surpass the XPS 17 3D's frame rates, which were 32.5 fps (Dirt 2) and 30.8 fps (Far Cry 2).
At nearly 10 pounds, with a 2-pound power brick, the G74SX isn't really portable, unless you define that as merely meaning "possible to move." This whopper measures 16.5 inches wide by 12.7 inches long, and is 2.4 inches at its thickest (the computer tapers off near the front).
Our review model, priced at $1979 (as of August 17 2011), sports a second-generation Intel Core i7 processor (the i7-2630QM) and offers 16GB of RAM plus 910GB of storage space spread over a 750GB hard drive and a 160GB solid-state drive. The G74SX is also one of the first laptops to come preloaded with Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 560M graphics card. Additional features include built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth connectivity, and a Blu-ray Disc player. The G74SX runs the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium.
In PCWorld's WorldBench 6 benchmark tests, the Asus G74SX earned an impressive score of 150, which is quite good even for the desktop replacement laptops category. That result is just one point behind the mark of the Dell XPS 17 3D. The G74SX also did well in our graphics tests, with frame rates of 48.8 frames per second and 46.3 fps on our Dirt 2 and Far Cry 2 tests, respectively (both at high quality settings and 1920 by 1080 resolution). Those numbers surpass the XPS 17 3D's frame rates, which were 32.5 fps (Dirt 2) and 30.8 fps (Far Cry 2).
At nearly 10 pounds, with a 2-pound power brick, the G74SX isn't really portable, unless you define that as merely meaning "possible to move." This whopper measures 16.5 inches wide by 12.7 inches long, and is 2.4 inches at its thickest (the computer tapers off near the front).
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